[pboglio]

Here's some pictures as usual. I have a bunch of step-by-step pictures of the timing chain install which I'll add later. There's some other steps I'll go over too in terms of rebuilding the VVTI cam cover which has some important teflon gap rings and sneaky small o-ring seals that are easily missed that should be replaced but the manual never mentions the steps involved. I'm quickly pushing thru this build but I'll go back and review the pictures and get those uploaded with some annotations.

The exhaust manifold shown here is the old crusty one, ignore that. It wasn't cracked or anything but high mileage iron castings I usually just throw out or replace. The new exhaust manifold is coming in and it'll get nicely ported and Cerakote ceramic coated. The turbo is going back out for high speed VSR spin balancing so that'll take some time. The fuel rail is still waiting to be vapor hone glass beaded to remove some cosmetic surface oxidation but it should look brand new when it's done, that's saving me over $150. New fuel injectors, fuel insulation brackets, & fuel rail sound insulation are on order from Nissan. Every nut, bolt, clip, & gasket is getting replaced. Fuel rail pressure sensor & gasket are also getting replaced. There is some expensive fuel component bracket that I'm just going to glass bead & paint a nice coat of gloss black to prevent it from corroding in the future, not paying $57 for a metal bracket.

The pictures below still lacks the: intake manifold (existing), throttlebody (existing), fuel rail, fuel injectors, valve cover (reusing existing), new pulley, new alternator, new accessory belt & tensioner, new exhaust manifold, new turbo (already purchased from before), new a/c compressor, new starter, hoses, heat shields, new engine harness, new engine sensors, & new motor mounts, plus minor stuff. All that stuff is getting ordered over the next 2 months to spread out the cost.

In terms of overall project cost to get the engine to this point over the last +3 years it was about $12,000 including: machining, engine tooling, new OEM parts, upgraded internal engine parts, aftermarket turbo, etc. Keep in mind I'm basically re-using my original: engine block, cylinder head, camshafts (reground), crankshaft, lower girdle/oil sump upper case, front timing cover(s), plastic valve cover, water outlet housing, water pump housing/alternator mounting, fuel rail, etc. Everything else was replaced with new updated OEM factory parts. Had I bought a new long block from Nissan ($5,000) the price difference after doing all the custom engine upgrades & machining probably would probably have been cheaper and the huge amount of parts ordering and shipping costs would have been mostly eliminated. Learned a few tricks on restoring parts so for me was worth it. Shops like AMS or high end shops will just offer you a brand new long block with the engine internals upgraded because of what I just described as time & cost are so much more efficient. Plus a performance build you almost need everything brand new/upgraded anyway for reliability which is pretty much the conclusion I came to at some point during this build. So an engine build can be done on the cheap or really expensive and it just depends on the goals in mind.

The above price also doesn't include any bolt-on upgrade parts either. For the CVT transmission build it was about $4,500 since I bought a lot of extra parts I didn't actually install. By the time I'm done with replacing the suspension components to just get the vehicle driveable that is another $2,000-$2,500. Anything beyond that isn't part of this build and I'm not even thinking about it right now.

I'm debating about rebuilding/restoring the AWD transfer case since it's kinda nasty. I figured about $500 to replace all the bearings, seals, repaint the output shaft, glass bead the case, new bolts, etc. Probably will do it if I can bang it out in a week. Never going to be easier to do it with the engine & trans already out of the car.

There's still quite a bit to do before I put the engine on the hoist. Keep in mind I'm taking my sweet now as there is no rush so this gives me some time to review & think if I missed something. I'm figuring about 12-15 hours of easy labor fitting the manifold, turbo, oil/coolant lines and all the remaining stuff that isn't too challenging to do so why bother rushing. The goal is to just drop the motor in and connect the: coolant, fuel, A/C lines, electrical, & motor mounts and not have to mess with anything inside the engine bay once it's in place. I still have some engine bay cleanup and some light paint touchup but it should look respectable once the motor mounts are secured.

 

[pboglio]

Got some more work done on the fuel system.

Installed the (3) Bosch fuel injectors (62829) stamped with injector ID 0 260 500 090. Had to buy (1) Nissan fuel injector (16600-1KC0A) stamped with injector ID 0 260 500 092 because RockAuto had only (3) Bosch injectors in stock and they are out of stock national backorder.

Clearly there is a problem here, the injectors codes don't match. Those (3) boxes all have the correct 62829 sticker for the Nissan Juke application but the wrong P/N stamped on the injectors as I've seen pictures of the Bosch 62829 and the ID code actually are supposed to match the OE Nissan injectors. Not sure what happened. The last (3) digits are typically the Bosch identifier for flow rating and they obviously don't match up. At this time I can't confirm if these are exact OE replacement or if it was a mistake at Bosch and they substituted.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to spend a small fortune & buy (3) OEM Nissan injectors + the original (1) OE Nissan injector I bought to make a matched set of injectors. I'll keep the Bosch injectors and might send them out with my old original OE injectorsto get flow data & cleaning and report back. If they look good and match with stock then I'll buy in the future another (1) Bosch Injector to make a full set.

For now the Bosch injectors are on permanent backorder so I'd advice in the future for anyone to not buy Bosch #62829 fuel injector for the Juke unless the ID code match exactly the stock OE Nissan injectors. If they don't matchup then simply return them before opening up the plastic sealed bag.

 

[pboglio]

While I'm waiting on parts I had some time to port the stock Juke exhaust manifold.

Very nice cast manifold design with a raised merge collector design and internal flow divider for Runners 1,4 & 2,3. This divider is critical to reduce engine backpressure at low/mid rpms but at higher rpms it does becomes a slight restriction. Most aftermarket exhaust headers will eliminate this flow divider on a single scroll turbo which tends to hurt spoolup but help topend.

The stock manifold runner ID are about 1.680" x 1.060" wide slot or 1.420" ID equivalent round opening. The collector is 1.830" I.D. Couple of areas where the manifold has issues are the first bend on the internal runners, each has a sharp 90* bend turning in. It's almost impossible to photograph it but you can feel it. Quickly blending that with a die grinder makes an efficient turn from the cylinder head runners into the 1st bend of the exhaust manifold runners. Initially I used my air die grinder but the 30 gal compressor could not keep up with it. To avoid tool chatter the rpms have to stay up so I switched to my heavy duy Milwaukee die grinder with a stone wheel. I then finished up with a dremel and 80 grit sanding cone on a 2" extension following by a 120 grit sanding flapper wheel to polish.

The 2nd problem area is the runner leading up to the merge collector. Same problem, the 60-90* bend into the merge collector there is a sharp bend on a couple of the runners. Blending using a die grinder helps the shortside radius become smoother and flow will increase. Next, the flow divider in the merge collector needs to be thinned out and knife edged to make the airflow cleaner passing over it. Some people will shorten this divider which is a tragically bad idea as it destroys turbo spoolup and midrange power, so the height is left un-touched. The stock casting flash and parting lines are really nasty on these manifolds and the divider needed a lot of cleanup to make it streamlined. Finally the collector I.D. was increased from 1.830" ID to about 1.900" I.D. This doesn't sound like much but the way I ported the area around the flow divider which is the actual flow choke point the actual cross sectional area increase was about +18-20%. There is a limit here of about 1.900" ID to a max of 1.950" ID while still retaining the fire ring step to make a reliable seal and protect the turbo gasket from blowout. The manifold wall thickness is only about 0.140" and get's thin in certain spots so taking out much material is out of the question.

The areas not worth touching are the runner ID themselves. Again, some folks might go in there and attempt to hog that material out but given how thin the wall thickness is I wouldn't even attempt it. Probably just do a simple 120 grit polishing of the runners otherwise leaving the ID mostly intact.

Typically the Garrett T25 turbine housing style on the GTX2860R will have a 1.810" ID on the turbine inlet (i.e. merg collector) which is rated around 400 h.p. (crank) so the 1.900" merge collector ID on the ported Juke exhaust manifold compares favorably to that. My experience is that this Juke exhaust manifold could easily support 400 h.p. with the full port work I've done but of course an equal length header is going to be better. This'll match up well with the Mamba 19T/TD04HL-11 which also is theoretically good to about 390-400 h.p. (crank) and I might put that to the test on the dyno at some point but for daily driving it'll be de-tuned to about 330-340 h.p. (crank). At some point I might step up to a Garrett turbo but for now I'll run what I have currently.

I know there are shops out there that will replace these exhaust manifolds with custom welded jobs. That mostly being done to mate with aftermarket turbos. Pros and Cons: Typically a header is good for about +30 h.p. over a stock manifold on most 4 cylinder turbo vehicles. Paired with a nice short runner intake manifold and cams this is a great combo. Downside is many times the bottom end/midrange will take a hit on big runner equal length headers. Cracking is the other disadvantage with headers and for a daily it's a big concern. Heat coming off the headers is another major issue as the surface area increase is massive. The factory exhaust manifold has a small surface area to internal volume ratio which is good for lighting off the catalytic converters and keeping the heat inside.

For heat managment and corrosion resistance I'll be sending this manifold out for Swain Tech "white lightening" ceramic coating. This isn't just any ceramic paint, it's a plasma sprayed white ceramic coating about .015" thick. Over that I'll be running a stock factory manifold heat shield that's just standard Cerakote ceramic coated to keep it looking fresh.

 

[pboglio]

I talked with Majestic turbo and they are going to do a Soft Bearing dynamic balance on my Mamba 19T & TD04HL-11 turbine component and assembly. Their VSR balance machine was down but the person on the phone was saying the turbo parts get a manual dynamic balanced anyway (Soft Bearing Balance) and afterwards the VSR is just used for fine tuning and to print out the dynamic balance values. Long story short is that a good soft balance is required before putting the CHRA into the VSR anyway otherwise they are grinding huge amounts off the compressor nut, compressor wheel, & turbine wheel. He went on to saying most times the soft balance is so good that the VSR barely registers any imbalance. VSR seems to be a bit of a marketing gimmick and he was commenting on the high cost of the machine purchase but ultimately it makes little difference if the initial soft balance is done correctly. Anyway, this Soft Bearing balance is industry standard so no issues with it.

So for $150 they will do the dynamic balance and re-assemble the CHRA and loctite the compressor nut in place. I received quotes from another shop wanting $395 because they technically have to charge for a rebuild which is insanity so I said Thank you no. I can rebuid the CHRA myself in 15 minutes with new parts so I can't see that price being justified unless it's a true rebuild which this isn't.

If this works out well I'll recommend Majestic Turbo as an option for a good turbo rebuilder.

 

[Macgyver]

Thats cool. Always good to have a good responsive turbo shop.

I think you should stop the engine build here and hang the motor on a wall like guys do when they get their first Buck after deer hunting. It looks too good to use.

 

[pboglio]

Lol, I hear you.

The goal was to make the engine look factory fresh so hopefully it'll look good when I install it. Was thinkng about clear coating the engine block at one point but just said the heck with it, cars are meant to drive after all. I'm all about getting the most use out of my vehicle and so I can't wait to get it running & do some Auto-x or Track days. Mostly I'll be loading up my Juke with the mountain bike & gear and doing some epic rides, plus some daily driving to work and getting groceries. I'd like to go out West and do some hiking & riding in the national parks so the Juke is going to be an all-around type vehicle. Can't do that with the EVO X so I have to be patient until I get my butt in gear and finish this epic project.

 

[Macgyver]

I would rent a car for that. I drove out to Omaha more than a few times. Only did it once in one of my cars. It was the SHO. Thats 2500 miles you cannot get back on your car.

 

[pboglio]

True. Juke is mostly a city car anyway. I rented a Subaru Outback going down Highway 1 in California. Best $39 I ever spent.

 

[pboglio]

Switching game plan here with the ceramic coating.

After calculating the cost of Swain Tech coating the manifold/turbine/downpipe/mid-pipe the total cost shipped was going to be $900. Way too expensive. Instead I'll be sandblasting and ceramic coating everything myself using Cerakote Glacier Black or Titanium rated for 1800*F. I'm picking up the paint gun today from Harbor Freight and ordering up the paint from Cerakote. Just need to order up some 100 grit aluminum oxide for my blasting cabinet and this should be straight forward to prep the parts.

Factory exhaust manifold heat shield is quite good so that will get Cerakote Burnt Bronze to freshen it up. Same with the valve cover heatshield. This will make a nice color for various heat shields & brackets in the engine compartment as well and a good alternative to powder coating. The Glacier Titanium color would make and awesome coating for the Juke valve cover and that might be a side project later once I get comfortable prepping the plastic valve cover. For that I might roughen using scotch brite since sandblasting a valve cover is extremely risky.

Turbine housing I might run the DEI turbine or 2J-Racing/Torque thermoblanket for the T25/T28. I'm not a huge fan of the blankets as they can burn-up after awhile but it's possible the Cerakote could extend the life of a turbo blanket and keep it in good shape. Either way the manifold and turbine can't run without some type of external heatshielding even with ceramic coating so still figuring that out. For the downpipe and midpipe I'm debating running some embossed stainless heat shielding or the DEI header wrap. Thermotec make some nice tube clamps that standoff the heat-shielding and mounts it securely with an air-gap. I can also fabricate my own stainless embossed heat shielding for the pipes but it requires some sheetmetal bending for the hem edges, spot welding, and some riveting for the mounts. The Thermotec heatshield is flexible and soft which is a big advantage and I might be able to modify it to fit different lengths so that option is most likely.